Help Fix My Crooked Wings
by BlackxXxThornsxXxRedemption
Summary: My first fan fiction. Basically two more Sohmas show up at Shigure's after they disapeared out of thin air seven years ago. Summary suxs. Please read and reveiw. I'm very self consious about my writing. Some constructive critizism would be nice.


Shigure Sohma sat in his office, trying to push out the noise in the next room. Yuki and Kyo Sohma were fighting, and Tohru Honda was trying to stop them from hurting each other. Apparently she was unsuccessful. _Oh will this fighting ever stop, I'll never know…_ he thought, trying to close his eyes. A knock at the front door snapped him out of his thoughts. He lifted up his head

"Huh" another knock. He sprang up. "I'll get it!" he chimed in cheerfully. He opened the door to see two children, standing side by side in the door frame. One of them a boy and the other a girl.

"H-hello S-Shi-chan" the girl greeted. Shigure stared at them both. It took him a minute or so to figure out who these strangers were.

"My, my, do I see what I think I see? It's certainly been a long time, hasn't it?" the boy and girl bowed. "You two sure have grown since I last saw you. You look more mature, you certainly don't look like the cute little eight year olds I saw so long ago. Though, it seems like I saw you both just yesterday. Hard to believe it's been almost seven years. _Yuki! Kyo! Come see! Our little wild-flower has come back to us!" _Shigure cried dramatically, trying to throw his arms around the girl, who suddenly looked uneasy. The boy shoved Shigure away from her, protectively standing beside her now.

"What is it Shigure? Who's at the-" Yuki cut himself off; his eyes were big with shock, seeing the two new arrivals in Shigure's living room. "I-Isamu_…? _What are you_-" _he stopped again, realizing the other visitor. His eyes grew wider_ "Emiko!_"

She neatly bowed, displacing a mass of beautiful, long blue-black hair-precisely the color of ink- that was tied up in a single braid. She had a pretty face but looked around the age of fifteen. _Awww. What a cute girl _Tohru smiled at her.

"Wha…what are you doing here?" Yuki asked but he was cut off as Kyo stomped into the room.

"What do you want?" He stared at the two strangers standing there. "Wait a sec! Who the hell are these two?!"

"Oh Kyo-Kyo. You don't remember us do you?" The boy taunted, his mouth had sharp canines, sharper than a normal person's, which was odd. The boy was tall, broad shouldered and skinny. He had the strangest eyes, they were the brightest watery blue with flecks of gray that sparkled when he smiled, his hair was a smoky gray shade that was shaggy and shoulder length.

"Why don't you two introduce yourselves for Kyo-Kyo here?" Shigure teased right along with him. The girl took a step forward, about to speak, and tripped. She fell forward; Yuki outstretched his arms, catching her.

"Emichan! Are you alright?" He asked her, a little pink in the face.

"Uh-huh" she mumbled. The girl's cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment too. Tohru stood baffled.

"B-But Y-Yuki-kun d-didn't tr-transform…" she exclaimed, confused on what just happened.

"That's because she is part of the Zodiac, Miss Honda" Yuki answered quietly. His eyes gestured towards the boy "this boy is Sohma Isamu and this is Sohma Emiko, his younger sister."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Honda" Isamu bowed formally "we've heard about you." Tohru began bowing, bowing and bowing like a broken windup toy.

"Oh no! The pleasure is all mine. I'm very pleased to meet you!" Isamu sniggered.

"Cute." He commented, getting an agitated look from Kyo.

"So what? Are you two back for good now or are you just 'gunna run away again?" Kyo grumbled through gritted teeth. Emiko's eyes softened and she watched her feet. "Wait-that's-uh-that's not what I meant" Kyo added hastily.

"Now Kyo, no need to get nasty to Emi" Isamu smiled, coming to Emiko's defense.

"We just figured…that…" Emiko trailed off.

"Well Isamu-kun, Emiko-san, we're glad that your home" Shigure added to brighten the mood. "You two must be starving? We're going to have dinner soon. Would you like to stay?"

"Starving! I hope that's okay. Sorry we dropped in on you guys. It took us most of the day to get back."

"Not at all Isamu-kun. Is that alright with you Tohru-san?"

"Yes-I mean-they came all this way so of course!"

"Everyone! Dinner is ready!" Tohru called

Emiko walked into the room without a word and sat directly across from Yuki, who sat with Tohru and Kyo on either side of him. She didn't make eye contact with any of the three; as a matter of fact it looked as if she didn't even notice them. Her dark eyes just stared down at her slender pale hands folded in her lap.

"Um…Emiko-san…" Emiko peered through the tendrils of hair that covered her face. "…I made Miso soup and rice, i-if that's alright with you, I-I can make something else if you w-want me to, really, its n-no trouble" Tohru babbled on, going into the normal 'over-apologetic mode.'

"…No, its fine. I don't want to be any trouble at all" Emiko replied. Shigure walked into the room with Isamu swaggering behind him, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. They began eating.

"So…you're both members of the Zodiac…maybe?" Tohru asked, feeling curious. Isamu nodded in reply, chewing this rice.

"Well I don't suppose you can actually call us 'members'" he added air quotes to emphasize the word "because to be honest we've been kicked out as well except no one has any idea why, we just are" he shrugged.

"Oh. So like Kyo?"

"Exactly."

"Hey! Don't compare yourself to me!" Kyo huffed but Isamu ignored him. Tohru's eyes kept drifting towards Emiko. Emiko seemed…well, beautiful. Emiko had pretty long and silky raven hair that spilled over her delicately curved bird shoulders down to the space below her shoulder blades. Her skin was as pale and unblemished as the surface of a bowl of cream. Her hair framed her heart-shaped face nicely and her almond eyes held pure coal black irises. The only flaw Tohru saw was a long, thin scar that stretched across her neck, long healed but very noticeable. Still, a mental picture of Akito popped in her head. It was amazing, the resemblance, even the small things, like the structure of their cheekbones, or the sheer beauty of their faces.

"Can you please not stare at me, Miss Honda?" Emiko asked politely, snapping Tohru out of her reverie. She turned her eyes away, realizing she was gawking at her.

"Oh! Was I staring? I'm sorry! I Guess I was thinking about something else and-well I'm sorry."

"It's fine." She answered.

"What I mean is I was only staring at you because-well you kind of look a lot like-"

"Like Akito-sama?" Shigure finished, as if reading Tohru's exact thoughts.

"Well, yes."

"That's not too hard to believe Tohru because Akito is actually Isamu and Emiko's father."

"Wow, really! That's amazing! I had no idea."

"Well Em's really the only one who looks anything like him. I take after our mom, I guess." Isamu interjected.

"So Akito….Akito has a wife? I wouldn't have thought,-I mean-he seems so young and all."

"_Had_." Isamu corrected, as if he'd explained that same thing a thousand times before. "She left when I was four. Hatori-senpai erased her memories by order of Akito. I guess he never really wanted her, he doesn't really want us either" he shrugged.

"Oh." Tohru felt guilty, she knew what it was like to lose a parent. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. There's nothing wrong with curiosity. I didn't know too much about her to become attached emotionally so don't worry about it, it doesn't hurt." Isamu smiled warmly, thought the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He sat closer to Emiko.

"Why the hell do you stand over her like that!? It's like you're expecting an attack to fall out of the sky!" Kyo blurted out after watching Isamu nervously glance around the room.

"What I do to protect my sister is none of your business, cat" Isamu replied snobbishly.

"Protect her from what?! There's nothing here but us and a couple of god damn leeks!"

"You know Kyon-Kyon, your really starting to get on my nerves" Isamu said under his breath.

"Then why don't you do something about it then! And stop calling me Kyon-Kyon!" A spark went off in Isamu's foggy eyes, the kind of spark in Black Haru's eyes that showed he was ready for a fight, Yuki tensed, _six years and this still hasn't changed_.

"Alright then damn you. Let's fight!" Isamu laughed darkly to himself, Emiko looked worriedly in his direction.

"Isa nee-san" she said once but he ignored her. Tohru watched horrified as the fight broke out. Isamu dodged several of Kyo's quick jabs and returned them, sending him flying through the front Shoji door.

"Oh Yuki-oh-I'm just so used to seeing Yuki and Kyo throw each other through doors. Oh Isamu-please try not to destroy my house, will you?" Shigure asked, poking his head out of his office.

"Shut up dog! Or I'll come for you next!" Isamu threatened, Shigure sweat dropped and retreated back into his office with a "will do" in a sing song voice. _I don't understand. Is this really the Isamu-kun that I saw just a few minutes ago? He seemed so laid back and now-now he just looks like Haru in his Black Mode _Tohru thought, uneasy.

"Strange isn't it?" Yuki asked, catching Tohru by surprise. "He seems very calm and well-spoken and mature, doesn't he? And in seconds he can turn into this…he's ten times worse than any Black Haru I've ever seen…but don't worry Honda-san, this isn't unordinary, it has something to do with the behavior of his Zodiac animal" Yuki explained..

"Oh yeah! I never figured out. What Zodiac animal is Isamu-san?" Tohru asked. Yuki gave an amused laugh, watching the fight progress.

"Isamu happens to be the Wolf. Probably the most aggressive of the Zodiac if you ask me. He's almost as hardheaded and foolish as Kyo sometimes. But in this case, the wolf is a stronger fighter than the cat, very smart, too. Just like his sister" he added, eyes flickering to Emiko and back in an instant. "Honda-san, you recall what Isamu had said? About the animals not mentioned in the Zodiac?"

"Oh yes. I remember. So the wolf and-whatever animal Emiko-san is-aren't part of the actual Zodiac but they still share the curse, right?" Tohru recited.

"That's right." At that moment Isamu kicked Kyo through the front doors out into the front yard.

"Get up damn it!"

"I've been up. I've been fighting where've up been!"

"Shut up! You haven't hit me either why don't you do something about it!"

"_You got it_!" Isamu screamed, throwing a punch.

"But Yuki-kun…"

Yes Honda-san?"

"What animal is Emiko-san? I'd really like to know."

"Emiko is the Panther actually. It's a strange animal to include as a Zodiac but we never question it."

"The Panther! That sounds so exciting to be the Panther, even if you aren't included as the official Zodiac, right Emiko?"

"…No…it isn't" she looked up and glared at Tohru "…you don't know anything about it and you won't know anything, you're just a stupid girl poking your nose in our business. You shouldn't even be here. Just stay out of it!" she hissed coldly.

"Hey!" Kyo snapped, breaking from Isamu's grasp "you can't come in here and start talking to Tohru like that! Who the hell do you think you are? Just be quiet."

"Obviously she shouldn't be here. I'm surprised Akito hasn't ordered to erase her memories yet" Emiko argued "why should we trust her? She thinks she can help us? No one can help us."

"I said _shut up_ didn't I?"

"Why do I need to listen to what you say? I don't need to listen to you, stupid cat." She hissed, standing up.

"God damn it will you shut up you god damn stupid Panther!" Kyo charged at her, she quickly dodged with ease despite the surprise attack. "What are _you _doing here then? You think you're so god damn special! You just disappear on us and we don't hear anything from you for seven years and you suddenly show up! Why don't I just kick your ass back to the Main House where Akito can deal with you!?" At that moment, Emiko's fist stopped the next blow but she didn't fight back, her eyes widened in fear. She lowered his fist. "What's a matter now fur ball? You afraid to fight me?" She didn't reply. "I mean it! Get your lazy ass over to the Main House and leave us alone!" Kyo aimed a deathly punch at her stomach. Emiko stopped the fist tightly with her hand and hurled him away from her. She began to back away towards the open door and stepped out into the night towards the direction of the woods. There was silence. Then

"You really _are_ the stupidest cat, aren't you?" Isamu mocked. A vein popped out of Kyo's neck.

"SHUT UP! What the hell did I do?"

"You successfully ran out Em. Congratulations Kyo-Kyo" he continued.

"Just _shut up_! Why don't you go after her damn it!?"

"That wouldn't be very wise of me to do that" Isamu replied calmly "you see, if Em is upset, it's best to leave her alone and to not interfere for a while.

"Why should we care that she runs back to Akito anyway!" Kyo screamed. Everyone jumped as Yuki punched the wall next to him, breaking through it and leaving a hole. "Because Akito's the reason she ran away in the first place! You have no idea some of the things Akito had done to her! You stupid, stupid cat!" he shout, losing his cool.

"Be quiet rat boy!" But Yuki continued

"Just as usual, you fail to think before you act, you know damn well that's why and you told her to go back to him when she had nowhere else to go."

"W-What's g-going o-on" Tohru asked, a little bit shaken.

"Well Tohru-san, it's easy to say that Akito-sama and Emichan didn't get along very well" Shigure summed up cheerfully, suddenly taking her side in all the commotion. _Akito…everyone seems so sad whenever they talk about him…everyone gets sad when they see him…what happened to make him so hated? _"Well an….accident"-he noticed Isamu cringe at the word-"happened a long time ago, she and Isamu-kun ran off when they were about seven or so-"

"Nine." Haku corrected him; his voice had more sadness "I was nine, Em was eight. That day…she had barely been in the hospital for a week, I came to visit her and she told me 'I have to leave this place, now' and she wasn't fit for this, I saw it. So I went with her. We left and went up into the mountains. It's hard to believe it's been seven, long, shitty years" he muttered.

"So _that's _where you two have gone. My, my, you two must have been excellent in hiding then. Kyo-Kyo went up into the mountains himself a while ago."

"We heard."

"We'll, honestly this is such a surprise, indeed. God knows how Akito will react to this-"

"If you tell Akito I swear to god…!" Yuki threat trailed off, voice shaking with anger, eyes flaring with a sort of brotherly protection.

"Don't worry Yun-Yun" Shigure taunted "I wasn't planning to tell him. At least not until she's adjusted to her life here…not to worry Yun-Yun, I won't tell Akito and your secret lover will be safe-" Yuki punched Shigure up in the air.

"Will you please _shut up?_!" Yuki screamed.

"What you probably don't know Tohru-chan," Shigure continued "is that Emi and Yuki were the best of friends as little kids. After all, who do you think gave him the nickname Yun-Yun? Yes, they were quite inseparable. It was very cute actually, almost like a romance" Shigure added, sniggering, before Yuki punched him in the face for the second time. Tohru still had more questions, but she felt it best not to ask. Her eyes drifted towards the open door.

"Don't worry Honda-san" Yuki reassured, seeing the look of worry in her eyes "when Emi gets frightened she gets…defensive. She'll be fine. You see, she likes to put distance between herself and others. She's not too quick to trust everyone she meets right when she meets them. She's had that issue of trust for a very long time. As much as some of us try to get close to her, it may take a very long time for her to open up."

"But its f-fr-freezing o-outside, I think she'll catch a cold if she stays out too long. W-We should g-go find her."

"God, will you stop worrying about that brainless bitch-" Kyo was cut off as a fist was driven into his left cheekbone, sending him flying through another door. Shigure paled a bit, seeing the fire in Isamu's eyes.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Your usual idiotic behavior just reached a new level" Yuki replied coolly and Isamu laughed.

Emiko ran into the woods around her, wanting to leave that place. _'Why don't I just kick your ass all the way to the Main House, that way Akito can deal with you?!' _She cringed. Something about Kyo's words panicked her. If she couldn't go to Shigure's, she'd _have _to go back to the Main House. And once back in the Main House, she'd never get away from _him_ again. After she was sure she'd lost herself in the vast unknowns of the woods she perched herself on a low branch from a tall tree and stared at the stars, and then a horrible memory flooded before her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"_Please Akito…please…" a five year old Emiko whimpered, pathetically, clutching to the bottom of Akito's kimono "please stop…please…" Akito laughed cruelly, shaking her off._

"_You need to be disciplined. You _don't_" there was a crack of a whip, then a wail and Emiko was on the ground, writhing in pain "disobey _me_! You need to learn that or suffer the consequences, Panther!"_

"_Can I…please go…." Emiko fought to say, desperate to get out of Akito's clutches. Another laugh._

"_To where? To play with the others? Do you honestly think that they'd want to play with you, child? You're a fool. No one wants you here. Everyone's lives are miserable because of you! You can never be normal. You can never be accepted! Just like you can never go against me!" Then it began again. A bone breaking punch to the jaw. A moan. Moans evolved into screams. The crack of a whip against bare flesh. A whimper. Whimpers changing into pitiful cries, those sobs cascading into hysterical screams. Cries of pain. A child's eyes, clouded with fear. Unfocused with one's own terror._

_Then the begging begins. Pleading. A male's maniacal laughter follows. Time passed through it all. Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Time passes slowly in that room._

_Silence. Emiko was on the floor, bleeding badly, practically blinded by the pain. She began to sob. Then the laughter began again. Slowly trying to drag herself to the door. Sweet freedom. Just outside this door. Then there was blackness. _

An hour's time passed. Or two. Isamu began restlessly walking around the room. Kyo slammed his fists on the table, knocking over the now cold rice. "Damn it, will you stop pacing! It's driving me nuts!" He screamed. Isamu left the room briefly. Shigure walked into the room from his office.

"Alright. Who wants to come to help me find Emiko-san?" No one said anything. "How about you then, Tohru-san? It'll be just you and me."

"Hell no you perv!" Yuki and Kyo screamed. Isamu came back into the room.

"You're going to find Em? Let me come, Gure-san."

"Of course Isamu-kun. We should all come. But someone should stay here, in case she comes back you know?"

"On second thought, I think I should be the one to stay here, I don't think she'd want me looking for her anyway. And…you should stay here too."

"What? Whhhhyyyyyyyyyy? I want to see my darling little Emiko-chan" Shigure whined. _You sound like a disgusting old man _Yuki, Kyo and Isamu thought in unison.

"Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru will go looking for her. Won't you guys?"

"Sure" Yuki answered.

"Why the hell do I have to go?!" Kyo yelled.

"Because it's your big mouth that caused her to run away."

"I wasn't asking you, rat boy!"  
"You weren't asking anyone-"

Off you go!" Shigure sang, shooing them away.

"…Have you told him yet?" Isamu asked when the three had left.

"No. Not yet. I'm trying to protect you both from him. If either of you were to go back now…" he trailed off. "Nevertheless, you and I have some arrangements to make, wouldn't you say?"

"Huh? Arrangements?"

"Um…Emiko-san!" Tohru called.

"Emi!"

"Hey! Fur ball! Where the hell are you?" Kyo screamed.

"Don't say _that_! Idiot, you've done enough to her already."

"Shut up!"

"Honda-san, I think we should go this way" Yuki suggested, pointing in one direction.

"Oh hell no! We're going this way!" Kyo hissed, gesturing towards the opposite route.

"Kyo, maybe we should try going Yuki's way" Tohru agreed.

"Fine!" Kyo huffed and stormed off. Neither said much-except Yuki and Kyo, who were arguing the whole way. After an hour of looking, they saw a shape sitting on the low branches of a tree. With curved shoulders and a long glossy hair, long legs, the way the moonlight had shown, the figure was wearing black. Unmistakably Emiko. As Yuki, Kyo and Tohru approached, they saw panthers-who knew there was any anywhere near them-curled up all around the tree. All staring up at her with their black eyes.

"Oh shut up" she hissed at the animals that were whining somewhat pathetically to her. Kyo charged ahead.

"Oi. Hey mutt!" He yelled. Emiko turned her head towards them; her onyx eyes were sparkling with the tears that streamed down her cheeks in little rivers. Kyo recoiled a bit "hey-what's wrong?"

"Why on earth should you care, cat?"

"I don't care! Just stop crying and come back to the damn house!"

"…But Kyo…you weren't serious, before right? About me going back to Akito?"

"If it'll get you to stop crying then sure. I wasn't serious. Happy!" Emiko shook her head. She turned and spotted Tohru.

"I suppose you're here to tell me off right? After what I said to you."

"Oh! N-no d-don't worry a-about that. I-It w-was my fault. I sh-shouldn't have said anything anyway. I mean-" She stopped, watching Emiko eye her sternly

"What are _you _apologizing for? God, are you really this spineless? Take charge once and a while. Get angry. Hit me. Slap me or something. Stand up for yourself, will you?"

"O-oh no! I couldn't get angry at you. I'm just grateful to have met you and that you're alright." Emiko stared at her, for a moment it looked like she was about to say something but she shut her mouth.

"Look who we finally found" Kyo burst out as they reached Shigure's. Isamu looked like he wanted to hug Kyo. Kyo saw him and backed away.

"Oh _hell _no_!_" He hissed.

"Shut up. I'm not that intrigued about getting in a yaoi with you either" he answered.

"Oh Emiko-san, so nice to have you back. You gave us such worry." Emiko bowed, apologetically.

"I'm sorry Shigure nee-san. I overreacted and left-I'm such a coward. I'm sorry to have caused you worry, I hope I wasn't keeping you from anything. I'm really, really sorry to have worried you. And you sent Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun to come looking for me. That was very nice. Please forgive me" She replied politely.

"You going through some damn mood swings or something? You're starting to act like Tohru with all that 'I'm sorry' crap" Kyo grumbled.

"Oh, yes" Shigure suddenly spoke from behind his newspaper "while you were all out, Isamu and I made the arrangement for you two to stay with us. We have spare bedrooms so space isn't a matter."

"Oh _great_" Kyo mumbled "now I have to live with _him_! What's next? I bet they're coming to school too!"

"Well-"

"_I knew it! _Damn Shigure!" Kyo screamed. "No _way_! No way in _hell _are you making me live with _them _and go to school with them!"

"I understand you hate me but to hate Emi is a different story" Isamu mumbled. "Truthfully, I don't think she deserves that."

"Isa…" Emiko mumbled, blushing.

"Anyway, Emiko-san, where would you like to sleep? Isamu tells me that you don't really like to sleep in a bedroom?"

"Yes. I-I just can't stand being in that small confined space. I guess it's just because I'm so used to sleeping out in the open. But any other room is fine for me. But Isa likes the couch so I wanted to ask if I could sleep on the roof? I mean if that's alright with you. I can just keep my things in a spare room and if it rains I can come down."

"Odd…but if it makes you comfortable then, sure! Promise me you won't fall of the roof." Shigure added jokingly "I'd hate to have to tell Ha'ri that you fell and broke your neck. You both will be attending school with Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, and Tohru-san. Starting tomorrow." Kyo and Isamu groaned then glared at each other menacingly.

"Why the hell do we have to go to school?" Isamu shouted at Shigure over his newspaper.

"Because it will be good for you to get an education" Shigure repeated simply.

"Education my ass!" Emiko came out of the bathroom, wearing a crisp new uniform. But it was a male's uniform. Like Yuki's, Kyo's and Isamu's.

"You! Why the hell are you wearing a _boy's _uniform?! You're starting to look like a Yankee" Kyo yelled. Emiko ignored him and picked up her bag.

"Well I just don't like skirts. Are you ready?" She asked, but it seemed her, Yuki and Tohru were the only ones ready.

"Well it seems we are the only three ready for school. Let's all walk together."

"That's a great idea Yuki-kun. Oh but I forgot. I need to do something before school. You guys go ahead, please."

"Alright Honda-san" Yuki agreed.

"Okay then Tohru-san…." They left as Kyou and Isamu were still arguing.

The birds were chirping loudly, the sky was a clear blue. Yuki and Emiko walked in silence side by side. Then;

"…Emi…?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm…yes, Yuki-kun?"

"…I... can you tell me why you ran away…?" Emiko stopped. She hadn't ever thought about that in a long time. _I ran away because of Akito of course _"…Was Akito really that…" Yuki trailed off. She stayed silent. "…what I mean is…was he really that cruel to you," _You have NO idea Yuki_ "I mean…I know I couldn't do anything for you but I wanted to help you…I was _worried _when you left Sohma house. You didn't tell anyone anything. You just left. What could I have done? You were my best friend." His hair covered his eyes and he wouldn't look at her. She was shocked when he said 'you _were _my best friend.' Did he hate her now?

"Yuki…I'm sorry…I really had no choice. You of all people should know that-"

"Stop lying" he snapped "you had a choice. I stayed with Akito! You didn't see me run off!" Emiko felt a hot burst of anger and felt like snapping at him too. So she did.

"That's because you were too afraid to run away, stupid rat!"

"And you were too much of a coward to stay! You were always different than the others and Akito saw that! You thought that running away would solve your problem! You were too scared to even face him!"

"_Shut up_ Yuki!" She yelled "you think that staying with Akito proves _you're _the brave one? That just proves you're afraid of him. Too afraid to do anything about it. At least _I _did something! You're insecure and you shut everyone out like your better than they are! You keep your distance because you're afraid. Well you know what; fear is a sign of weakness which makes you the weakest. It makes even Kyo better than you are-" A punch to the jaw silenced her. It caught her off guard and she held out her hands protectively, instinctively, in front of her as her back collided with the rough surface of a tree trunk. Her back stung, she could feel warm blood dripping slowly from the possible scrapes. Yuki began walking, leaving her there and not bothering to look back to see if she was alright. After a brief moment of silent cursing she followed him towards the school, glaring daggers at him from behind his line of sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_A five year old Emiko, frightened and sad, sat in her closet-like room, trying to block out the cries for help coming from the next room. It was the 'special' room that her tormentor, Akito kept for another boy. He was Yuki Sohma by her understanding. Emiko didn't know much about him, only that he was the rat of the Zodiac. Still, she felt bad for him. She wanted to help him. After a while passed, the cries stopped. Everything seemed silent. She heard light footsteps leave the room. She crawled out of her closet like room, being careful not to agitate her recent scars from yesterday, and lightly slid open Yuki's door._

_A small boy no older than six was curled up against the farthest back wall; his knees were drawn up to his chest, quivering. He heard the noise and snapped up, retreating back farther._

"_It's okay…you're Yuki-kun? Right?" She crept closer to him. He nodded his head; fear was still in his eyes. "My name is Emiko. I-Ow!" Emiko had tried to stand up, the fresh scars on her legs burned. She fell again. She tried to hide the burning pain but she couldn't. A few tears slid down her cheeks, dotting the hard wooden floor. A pair of arms snaked around her, Yuki was clinging to her._

"_Don't cry" he told her. They stayed like that for a few minutes until her tears stopped. They started talking after a while. They had a long conversation; talking led to the smiling; smiling led to the laughter._

"_Yuuchan," Emiko started "as long as we're stuck with Akito, and even after that, when we're bigger, can you promise me you'll still be my friend?" Yuki put his small hand over her even smaller hand. They locked pinkies, a ritual for a promise._

_The door suddenly slid open. Emiko turned around to see Akito standing in the doorway._

"_Emiko…go back to your room…you're still being punished for your disobedience yesterday…" his calm yet eerie voice reminded her. She stood up, bowing apologetically._

"_Yes Akito-sama. I'm sorry. I just thought-"_

"_You thought wrong! Now go back to your room!" He demanded. With one last glace back at Yuki she obeyed. _

When they reached the school, they greeted Tohru, Kyo and Isamu, already at their lockers.

"What the hell crawled up _your _ass?" Kyo sneered. Yuki glared and Emiko stayed silent, feeling the lukewarm sensation as the blood tried to a cake at the small of her back. A boy with blonde hair and another with black and white hair came bounding up to them.

"Hi guys! Hi!" The blonde boy, Momiji Sohma, cried out happily, while the other boy just waved. Momiji spotted Emiko standing, suddenly nervous, beside Tohru.

"Hello! Are you one of Tohru's friends? What's your name? Mine is-" Kyou hit Momiji on the head, causing him to burst into fake tears.

"Quiet brat! It's too early for this!"

"Yuki-kun…who _is _she?" The boy, Hatsuharu Sohma, asked, eyeing the girl.

"It's Emi, Haru-kun…" Haru just stared at her; his eyes were wide with shock.

"Emichan! Yay! Does that mean you and Isamu-kun are back? Yay! Emi! Emi, do you know my name?" Momiji chirped excitedly. Emiko nodded.

"Mhmm….Momiji" Emiko answered, with a smile.

"You remember my name! Emichan! Let's be friends! Okay!" Emiko nodded again.

"Okay."

"Yay!"

"Isamu-kun…nice to see you." Haru greeted.

"Yeah, you too Cow." The bell rang suddenly, cutting off their conversation.

"Time to go to classes" Tohru reminded.

"Honda-san, let's walk together" Yuki asked.

"That's a great idea. Um…Emiko-san, would you like to walk with us?"

"…okay"

They began walking to class; Yuki stood on one side of Tohru, putting distance between him and Emiko. Emiko had infuriated him and he felt that if he talked to her he'd have to punch her through the wall. At this point, he felt like he hated her. She had no right to say those things she said, he though, I didn't either, I guess. '_You think that staying with Akito proves you're the brave one? That just proves you're afraid of him. Too afraid to do anything about it. At least I did something! You're insecure and you shut everyone out like your better than they are!_' He glanced at Emiko, who was, surprise, surprise, trying her best to ignore him. '_Yuuchan…as long as we're stuck with Akito, and even after that, when we're bigger, can you promise me you'll still be my friend…?' _

When they reached the classroom two girls approached Tohru, one was a tall blonde Yankee and the other had long hair tied back in a braid that was shorter than the first one.

"Hello Tohru-san"

"Yo" the blonde one spotted Emiko and Isamu standing next to Yuki.

"Hey. Prince. Who are those two?" She asked rudely.

"They seem to have strange waves like the others so they must be Sohmas'. Correct?"

"Yes. Miss Outani, Miss Hanajima. This is Sohma Emiko and her older brother Sohma Isamu" Emiko bowed, Isamu just waved causally.

"Great so there's more of you!" Ou exclaimed.

"Well at least there's a female amongst them now" Hana added.

"Oh! Right Emiko-san, Isamu-kun, these are my friends, Uotani Arisa and Hanajima Saki."

"Hello" they both greeted in unison. Class started soon after their conversation. The day dragged on slowly; they all had the same classes together.

The final bell rang, signaling the students to go home. Emiko leapt from her desk, stuffed her things into her bag and sped towards the door so quickly that Kyo thought she had disappeared for a moment. She met Momiji, Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki at their lockers, Haru nowhere to be seen. Out of nowhere, a hand snaked around her waist, pulling her back.

"Where are you going? You owe me an explanation" the way the person grabbed her she could tell it was Haru, well past his Black Mode.

"We'll I'm going home-Shigure's I mean."

"Not about that! About everything! Where did you and Isamu go? Where have you been living? How come you never contacted anyone! I was _worried_ about you. You never told anyone where you were going or why you you left...!" As usual, she kept quiet. "…Em, _answer_ me!" Black Haru demanded.

"Shut up! You sound like Akito. You know damn well the reason I left, you stupid cow! I left because of Akito. Isa left because I left. We were gone as long as we were_ because_ of Akito! But now that we're back it's only a matter of time before Akito drags me back to that-" Black Haru picked her up and slammed her hard against a row of lockers behind her-so hard it temporarily shocked her and made her gasp once involuntarily out of surprise. One hand pinned her by the stomach while the other held her by the throat-his hand felt cold on the scar. She would have thought he was trying to choke her but he kept her feet planted on the tiled floor.

"He isn't going to take you back, got it? He will _never _touch you again._ I'm_ not going to let him-"

"Well what can you do about it? It doesn't matter if you won't let him take me back. He is still the leader of the Sohmas' and we can't go against him. Remember?" She pulled his hand away from her throat and gradually his hold on her slackened. She watched as his face relaxed and he became White Haru again.

"Hello Emiko…" Emiko froze, feeling her entire body go rigid. Her breath hitched, trapped in her throat. She knew that voice well; it was the voice of the man that had made her childhood into a living nightmare, the one who seemed to haunt her every night of her life. She pivoted, her eyes immediately locking with the ink colored irises of Akito. He stood several feet away, leaning against a dead tree frosted with snow, arms folded across his chest and a cool smile forming on his lips.

His eyes held her there; she couldn't look away from him. Her breathing slowly crept towards hyperventilation. He looked absolutely pale-well to Emiko he _always _looked pale-and gaunt, yet still beautiful. His young, ageless face remained unmarked by time by she saw that there was something in his eyes, buried deep down, that made him look weaker and sickly. He clearly didn't have much time left. Emiko somehow miraculously found her voice again, focusing on trying to form the words.

"…Aki…Akito-"

"My, my, after all this time and you can't even say 'hello' to your own father" the last word hung in the air as if it were an incandescent.


End file.
